Some well-known Four Corners artists will demonstrate their skills and authentic techniques May 26 for a “NavaHopi” show at Kilgore American Indian Art in Mancos.
From 4 to 7 p.m., Hopi brothers Dennis Ross and Harry Bert will carve kachina dolls and Hopi potter Nyla Sahmi will create pottery with her Navajo sister-in-law Ida Sahmi. The art pieces created during the demonstrations will be available for purchase.
The artists are recognizable in the Four Corners. Art gallery owner Kelly Kilgore and her son, Chandler Bruce, who works there, know the two brothers from when they lived in Tuba City, Arizona, where they owned a trading post, a gas station and the NavaHopi Kitchen. Ross and Bert are from Moenkopi, a small village located immediately southeast of Tuba City.
“Harry remembers my mom running around the trading post when she was a little girl,” Bruce said. The brothers moved from Moenkopi, and Bert now lives in Flagstaff and Ross in Cortez.
The name of the event – “NavaHopi” – is a play on words, which refers to the family’s formerly-owned NavaHopi Kitchen and the fact that Ross and Bert married Navajo women. The sister-in-law potters are a mix of Hopi and Navajo also.
Nyla and Ida Sahmi live in Polacca, Arizona, located on First Mesa. Nyla Sahmi is the great-granddaughter of famous potter Nampeyo of Hano, which in Hopi means “the snake that does not bite.” Nampeyo’s pottery is a known example of the Sikyátki Revival style – a technique that involves kiln-firing pottery shards – and her work is featured in national galleries. Sahmi, like her great-grandmother, is known for her traditionally-made polychrome jars.
People familiar with art by Ross, Bert and the Sahmi sisters have visited the gallery and talked about how excited they are for the demonstrations, Bruce said.
Also, the event coincides with the first installment of Mancos Creative District sponsored Mancos Grand Summer Nights, which will feature live music from Hurricane Jake’s One Man Band and food from Green Table Cafe, Zuma Natural Foods and Moose.
To promote the event at the gallery, Bruce added a final catchphrase: “From the NavaHopi Kitchen in Tuba City to the NavaHopi show in Mancos – new discoveries along old trails!”
For more information about Kilgore American Indian Art, visit www.kilgoreamericanindianart.net.
fstone@durangoherald.com
